Yes, the original casting director actually saw Wilfrid in the role but didn't like his performance, and thought it was too "dark", so they didn't cast him in the TV version. I think Wilfrid would have done a good job of this, though it would have been different. Rigsby (or "Rooksby" as he was originally) would be a dark and seedy fellow. Such a shame, I'd have liked to have seen it.

Or “Ragsby,” as tory candidate/ponce Colonel De Vere-Brown (Anthony Sharp) would have it. Difficult to imagine the show without Leonard Rossiter’s wonderful freneticism; as it is to imagine Wilfrid similarly bouncing off the walls, speaking Chappell’s consonant crammed rapid fire dialog and trying to seduce Frances de la Tour all the time. A terrible shame we don’t have a video record of Wilf’s stage interpretation of the role, but maybe it’s better to imagine it, must’ve been brilliant .